C3 Patent and Intellectual Property Law

Dec312009 | Steve O'Donnell

Poor Man’s Copyright

Copyright, perhaps more than other legal fields, has a lot of urban legends attached to it. The most pervasive is probably the Poor Man’s Copyright where one mails themselves a copy of their work to prove copyright. Copyright attorneys have another name for this: crap.

The setting is this: an author mails a copy of their manuscript to themselves, but doesn’t open it. The author then submits copies to publishing houses and is rejected, but later sees someone steal take their idea and make a fortune off of it. The author sues and there is a dramatic scene where the judge opens the sealed envelope, sees that the other person stole the work and decides in favor of the author. For dramatic effect, we see the defense attorney slam his briefcase shut while the author’s side erupts into a perfectly choreographed, but seemingly improvised, dance routine. Next there is a fade-in of the defendant counting out a huge stack of bills to the author before tossing the money into the air and storming out of the room.

Ahh, Hollywood.

Alas, that never happens.

A Poor Man’s Copyright is, well, crap. Consider this: I mail myself an unsealed envelope and let it sit for a few years. Eventually there a novel that gets turned into a smash movie (maybe one involving friendly vampires with comically large heads) so I quick write up a version of the book and seal it in the envelope. Ta-Da! Now I sue, settle for millions and retire to an island with my supermodel wife.

Sorry, that isn’t going to happen. The sealed envelope will have little or no evidentiary value that I wrote the happy vampire book. If anything, it will show that I have something in an envelope stamped with a certain date--not that the contents of the envelope was there by the stamped date. In other words, it’s worthless to me.

The best way to prove that you created something is to register the copyright. Registration isn’t difficult or expensive and usually doesn’t require a lawyer. I’ve set up some of my creative clients with a scheme to recognize and register copyrights as soon as they’re ready to make sure that they have the best protection available. Contact me if you’d like to learn more.

Image from cyberlawcentre.org and appears to be in the public domain.